CHAPTER XXVIII 



Bulbs and Tubers 



If we use perennials to lengthen the yield of the garden, 

 we may find ourselves wishing to make the season longer 

 still. Bulbs will give us the earliest flowers of all. More- 

 over, during the summer they give us some very lovely 

 flowers. 



Bulbs are . marvelous plants, each containing in itself 

 leaf and flower, ready to unfold. The best of them are grown 

 by the patient people of Holland, whose nature and soil and 

 climate fit them for the task. Bulbs are imported into this 

 country in enormous quantities and in all qualities ; they 

 are much more expensive than seeds, but since many garden 

 associations offer them to their members, gardeners should 

 understand about them. 



Bulbs divide into two classes : those planted in the fall, 

 and those planted in spring or early summer. As already 

 explained, the fall-planted bulbs make roots before winter, 

 then lie snug through the frosts, and in spring push to the 

 light. The spring-planted ones make their roots and then 

 grow at once. Some few bulbs are tender ; the one that we 

 are most likely to plant is the gladiolus. This, and some 

 few of the hardy bulbs, should be taken up after the foliage 

 has died. The rest remain in the ground, where for many 

 years new bulbs are made as the old ones die. Such bulbs 

 pay for themselves over and over again. 



Compared with other plants, bulbs take up very little 



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